Canadian Culture: International Dimensions

Steven K. Holloway was Assistant Professor of Political Science, St. Francis Xavier University, Nova Scotia.

This book is actually a compilation of the papers for a Canadian cultural diplomacy conference held at the University of Waterloo in May 1983. It represents the first major study prepared by the Centre on Foreign Policy and Federalism of Waterloo and Laurier Universities. The topic seems ideally suited for a centre on foreign policy and federalism; Andrew Cooper, the associate director, is to be congratulated for his selection of the contributors to this premiere work. The common purposes of the essays might be summarized as follows: to describe Ottawa’s present and past efforts in the field, to debate the extent to which that policy serves state interests as opposed to artist community interests or Quebec provincial interests, and to compare Canada’s policies to those of France, Britain, Germany, Australia, and to some extent Japan (in Gerald Wright’s article). J.L. Granatstein’s article on Anglocentrism provides an excellent and thought-provoking historical overview. Likewise, Claude Ryan provides a very good non-separatist defence of Quebec’s cultural diplomacy. The mode of writing throughout is descriptive rather than theoretical, though Robert Williams makes some attempt at conceptualization (“autonomist” vs. “auxiliary” approaches to cultural diplomacy). Other contributors include Louis Applebaum, Ian Drummond, Norman Hillmer, David Leyton-Brown, Norman Martin, and Freeman Tovell. The book could have been strengthened by at least one non-establishment critique and the inclusion of an index and bibliography.